UK261 and EU261 flight compensation
Flight delayed or cancelled? The airline may owe you up to £520.
UK law sets fixed cash compensation for long delays, cancellations and overbooking. It applies whatever you paid for the ticket, and it is separate from any refund or voucher.
- Any flight that departs from the UK or the EU, on any airline, low-cost ones included.
- Flights into the UK or the EU when a UK or European airline operates them.
- You can claim for UK flights up to six years back, five in Scotland.
Lost, delayed or damaged bag? Baggage claims. Flight to, from or within Canada? Canada checker.
| Flight | Route | What happened | Owed |
|---|---|---|---|
| U2 8073 | LGW → BCN | Arrived 3 h 40 late | £220 |
| FR 2317 | STN → ATH | Cancelled, 5 days' notice | £350 |
| BA 0117 | LHR → JFK | Arrived 4 h 30 late | £520 |
| LS 0803 | MAN → TFS | Storm closed the airport | Not covered |
Check your flight
Example shown. Change the answers to match your flight.Send us this flight for a free review
The buttons open your email or WhatsApp with these details filled in. If nothing opens, copy the details and email them to [email protected]. We confirm by email whether the flight qualifies before you pay anything.
What you can claim
The amount is fixed by distance, not by your ticket price
A £40 seat and a £900 seat on the same delayed flight are owed the same compensation.
| Flight distance | UK flights | EU flights | Typical route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 930 miles 1,500 km | £220 | €250 | London → Barcelona, Manchester → Dublin |
| 930 to 2,175 miles 1,500–3,500 km | £350 | €400 | London → Athens, Manchester → Tenerife |
| Over 2,175 miles 3,500 km | £520 | €600 | London → New York, London → Dubai |
Flights covered by UK rules are paid in pounds; flights that depart from the EU are paid in euros. On flights over 2,175 miles, an arrival delay between 3 and 4 hours pays half: £260 or €300. The delay is measured at your final destination, when the aircraft doors open. Compensation is per passenger, including children with their own paid seat.
How it works
You send the flight. We handle the airline.
Check the flight
Answer the questions above and send us the flight number and date. The review is free.
We confirm it qualifies
We look up the flight's real arrival time and the cause, and tell you by email what you are owed.
Choose how to pay
Pay a flat fee today and keep everything, or pay nothing now and 25% only if the airline pays.
Sign and send documents
You sign an authorisation online and send your booking confirmation or boarding pass and a photo ID.
We file and follow up
We claim from the airline and follow up. If it refuses and it belongs to an approved dispute-resolution scheme (AviationADR or CEDR), we take the complaint there, or prepare it for you to sign. The airline pays you directly.
Most claims take between two and six months. Airlines often reject a first request, which is why the follow-up matters.
Fees
Two ways to pay. You choose after we confirm your flight qualifies.
Option A · pay today
- You keep 100% of the compensation.
- On a £520 claim, the fee is under a tenth of what you are owed.
- Refunded in full if we find the flight doesn't qualify before we file.
- Paying in euros: €59 per passenger.
Option B · no win, no fee
- Nothing to pay today.
- No compensation, no fee.
- On a £520 claim you keep £390.
Many flight-claim companies work only on a share of your compensation, commonly 35% or more, plus an extra charge if lawyers get involved. We publish both prices up front and add nothing later.
How you pay. By card or PayPal, or by bank transfer. Once we confirm your flight qualifies, we email you a secure payment request in pounds. You never type card details into this website.
Usually covered
- Arriving 3 hours or more late at your final destination.
- A cancellation announced less than 14 days before departure.
- Being denied boarding because the flight was oversold.
- A missed connection on a single booking that made you 3 hours late.
- Technical faults, crew shortages and the airline's own scheduling problems.
Usually not covered
- Severe weather, air-traffic-control restrictions, security alerts and airport strikes.
- Flights into the UK operated by an airline that is neither British nor European.
- Flights that neither depart from nor land in the UK or Europe.
- Delays under 3 hours, and cancellations announced 14 days or more ahead.
Who handles your claim
A named person, not a call centre
Fair Flight Claim is run by Alberto Bernal Duplat. He reviews each flight personally and signs each claim sent to the airline.
We work remotely from Colombia as your authorised representative before the airline and, where the rules allow it, the passenger-rights bodies. We are a claims-management service. We are not a law firm in the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union, and we do not give legal advice or go to court in those places.
Contact
- [email protected]
- +57 323 907 4016
- Replies
- Within 12 hours, Monday to Saturday
- Based in
- Colombia, working online
Questions
What travellers ask first
Does it matter which airline I flew with?
For flights leaving the UK or the EU, no: every airline is covered, low-cost ones included. For flights arriving in the UK from elsewhere, the airline must be British or European.
The airline already gave me a refund, a voucher or miles. Can I still claim?
Often, yes. Compensation for the delay or cancellation is separate from a ticket refund and from meals or hotels. If you signed something accepting a voucher as full settlement, tell us and we will check what it says.
How far back can I claim?
Up to six years for flights covered by UK rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland. Send us the flight and we will tell you whether it is still in time.
The airline said it was "extraordinary circumstances". Is that the end?
Not always. Weather and air-traffic control are valid reasons. A technical fault or a late incoming aircraft usually is not, even when the airline describes it that way. We check what happened to that flight on that day.
Can I do this myself for free?
Yes. You can write to the airline directly and, if it refuses, take the complaint to the airline's dispute-resolution scheme or to the Civil Aviation Authority at no cost. Our service is for people who would rather not chase the airline for months.
What do you need from me?
The flight number and date, your booking confirmation or boarding pass, a photo ID for each passenger, and a signed authorisation that lets us act for you.
What if the claim fails?
With Option B you pay nothing. With Option A the fee covers the work of preparing and pursuing the claim; it is refunded only if we find the flight doesn't qualify before we file. We tell you which case applies before you pay.
Find out in two minutes what your flight is owed
Free review. You pay only after we confirm it qualifies.